Solar Cell With Co-Planar Backside Metallization
First Claim
1. A solar cell comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate having a backside surface;
a back surface field metallization layer disposed on a first portion of the backside surface, the back surface field metallization layer having a planar first surface portion facing away from the backside surface, and a first edge portion extending from the planar first surface portion toward the backside surface; and
a solder pad metallization layer disposed over a second portion of the backside surface, the solder pad metallization layer having a planar second surface portion facing away from the backside surface, and a second edge portion extending from the planar first second surface portion toward the backside surface,wherein the back surface field metallization layer and the solder pad metallization layer are disposed such that the first edge portion of the back surface field metallization layer abuts the second edge portion of the solder pad metallization layer in a non-overlapping manner such that the planar first surface portion is substantially coplanar with the planar second surface portion.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A solar cell includes two backside metallization materials that are simultaneously extrusion deposited on a semiconductor substrate such that both a back surface field (BSF) metal layer (e.g., Al) and a solder pad metal structure (e.g., AgAl) are coplanar and non-overlapping, and the two metals abut each other to form a continuous metal layer that extends over the backside surface of the substrate. In one embodiment, the solder pad metal is formed directly on the backside surface of the substrate, either by co-extruding the two materials in the form of a continuous sheet, or by depositing spaced apart structures that are then flattened to contact each other by way of an air jet device. In another embodiment, the solder pad metal is disposed over a thin layer of the BSF metal (i.e., either disposed directly on the BSF metal, or disposed on an intervening barrier layer) using a co-extrusion head.
101 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A solar cell comprising:
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a semiconductor substrate having a backside surface; a back surface field metallization layer disposed on a first portion of the backside surface, the back surface field metallization layer having a planar first surface portion facing away from the backside surface, and a first edge portion extending from the planar first surface portion toward the backside surface; and a solder pad metallization layer disposed over a second portion of the backside surface, the solder pad metallization layer having a planar second surface portion facing away from the backside surface, and a second edge portion extending from the planar first second surface portion toward the backside surface, wherein the back surface field metallization layer and the solder pad metallization layer are disposed such that the first edge portion of the back surface field metallization layer abuts the second edge portion of the solder pad metallization layer in a non-overlapping manner such that the planar first surface portion is substantially coplanar with the planar second surface portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A solar cell comprising:
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a semiconductor substrate having a backside surface; a back surface field metallization layer substantially covering a continuous area of said backside surface; and a solder pad metallization layer embedded within said back surface field metallization layer such that the back surface field metallization layer and the solder pad metallization layer have surfaces substantially in the same plane. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for fabricating a backside metallization structure on a semiconductor substrate comprising:
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moving a printhead having at least one nozzle orifice relative to the semiconductor substrate; and feeding an Al passivation layer ink and an AgAl soldering pad ink through said printhead such that both said Al passivation layer ink and said AgAl soldering pad ink are simultaneously extruded from said at least one nozzle orifice and deposited onto the semiconductor substrate. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification